This is the distressing moment a group of people are seen clinging to a fishing boat as theirs started to sink in the middle of the English Channel.
Four migrants sadly died this morning when a boat carrying up to 50 sank in sub-zero temperatures just five miles off the coast of Dungeness in Kent.
Fishermen saved up to 43 people including children as video from the harrowing mission shows multiple people gripping a lifeboat as their small dingy starts to fold in on itself.
The clip shows children and adults in freezing temperatures. Not all of them are wearing life jackets and one person appears to be in a short-sleeved shirt.
Other images showed the surviving migrants arriving safely in Dover. Children are seen bundled up in coats as they walk off the rescue boat.
A fishing crew that helped bring migrants onto their boat described the scene "like something out of a Second World War movie".
Raymond, the captain, said he was woken up by a crew member hwo said "there are migrants alongside the boat".
He told Sky News: "It was like something out of a Second World War movie, there were people in the water everywhere, screaming.
"The dinghy started to drift away, so I steamed towards the dinghy and we secured it with a rope to the side of the boat.
"We were trying to pull them off the dinghy."
He said they managed to drag 31 onto the boat and said they had come from Afghanistan, Iraq, Senegal and India.
Raymond also said they had apparently paid £5,000 to a smuggler in France for passage into the UK.
Images from Dover today showed those who had been rescued, including small children.
The boat, which was carrying up to 50 people, got into difficulty in icy waters during sub-zero temperatures in the early hours of this morning - with the coastguard and navy ships racing to the scene.
Temperatures last night were said to be -4C as rescue boats and ambulances were called at about 3am before launching crews off the coast.
One Dover-based fisherman said that the temperature of the sea mid-Channel was just 9C.
The trawlerman who asked not to be named said: "If you went into the sea mid-channel without a dry suit or protective clothing in those temperatures you would have about five minutes before you began to struggle.
"You would start to get cramps in your limbs which would make things really difficult to try and stay afloat."
Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboats were launched from Dover, Dungeness, Hastings and Ramsgate alongside coastguard rescue teams from Deal, Dungeness and Folkestone.
Opening Prime Minister's Questions, Rishi Sunak expressed his “sorrow” at the “capsizing of a small boat” in the English Channel, telling MPs there had been a “tragic loss of human life”.
Sir Keir Starmer said it is “heartbreaking” that there have been more deaths in the Channel.
It is a little over a year since 32 people died when their boat sank in the Channel. Five women and a girl were among those killed in the tragedy, in what was last year described as the deadliest incident of its kind ever.
This year more than 44,000 asylum seekers have crossed the Channel, more than in any other on record.
A Government spokesperson said: “At 0305 today, authorities were alerted to an incident in the Channel concerning a migrant small boat in distress.
"After a coordinated search and rescue operation led by HM Coastguard, it is with regret that there have been four confirmed deaths as a result of this incident, investigations are ongoing and we will provide further information in due course.
“This is a truly tragic incident. Our thoughts are with the friends and families of all those who have lost their lives today.”
The French authorities confirmed that they were assisting with today's mission and that they had received "Mayday calls"
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “We are devastated to hear news of the incident in the Channel today and heartbroken at the reports of fatalities.
“Our thoughts are with all those affected and we pay tribute to the rescue teams working on such a dreadful incident.
“Sadly, this is not the first time we are waking up to such devastating news of people having lost their lives on a harrowing journey to Britain in search of safety.
“It is just over a year since 32 lives were lost in a similar incident. Like those involved in this incident today, they had hopes and dreams for the future. They weren’t illegal. They were desperately seeking safety.
“We will be monitoring the situation carefully and in the meantime, we thank all those people who have expressed their sympathy and solidarity with those affected by today’s horrendous incident.”
